Like 8 years ago I saw a goth rock/metal band, Grigori 3, at a local Halloween night show and before they even finished the sound check I was hooked, it was like nothing I had ever heard before. I heard that they put out a cd a while ago but I haven't been able to track it down.

_________________Man is truly a wretched thing, and the forest is committed to expunging him from existence.

Jesu was one of those bands for me. I remember putting on their self-titled and just cranking up the volume up and up until it was maxed and just falling into a coma until the album ended. Sheer hypnotic bliss.

Swans would definitely be one, simply because I'd never heard anything else like it in my life. I discovered them through Power For Power off their debut, Filth, and I was surprised a band could take something so basic and make it sound so intense. I couldn't stop repeating the drum pattern in the intro for days, it's my ringtone now.

The first one for me, definitely, was Dimmu Borgir's Puritania. At that point in time, in I think 2002, I was still mostly listening to nu metal songs I heard in Tony Hawk games or other such places, but Dimmu Borgir was the first non-nu metal band I really enjoyed. Puritania blew me away, and while I was initially disappointed that it's somewhat of an aberration in their library, I quickly got into their other more melodic music as well.

Some other bands that come to mind which completely amazed me from the first listen:

Kreator - I remember getting Pleasure To Kill, mostly because I had read UltraBoris' review of it on the Metal Archives, and it seemed like something I had to hear. Up to this point I mostly was only aware of thrash metal that sounded like the Big 4; the most aggressive band in that style I knew of was Slayer, and I didn't know there were thrash bands that could sound rougher and more dirty in style than them. Pleasure To Kill blew me away, absolutely.

Morbid Saint - I wanted more aggressive thrash metal, and the songs I heard from Morbid Saint were more than enough encouragement to search out a copy of Spectrum of Death. To this day, Assassin is one of the most intense songs I've ever had the pleasure of listening to.

I remember a few years ago when I first listened to Veux-tu Danser? by Gris. That song alone made me listen to the entire album which I found to be a great find. Even though the sound is very raw, that album manages to create a really unique atmosphere and it holds you until the end. It still amazes me to listen to thar particular song and the album closer, especially since there's only two musicians in the band.

the most recent band to blow my mind, sit back and say fuck was Mitochondrion's debut. the atmosphere and controlled chaos just blew me away. i thought i was done hearing new and exciting things in the metal i listened to and was pleasently suprised to be wrong.

other artists that have blown me away in the past would be Swans, Agalloch, Leviathan, Deathspell Omega, Blut Aus Nord and Burzum to name a few,

Abnormality, but only because I first heard of them through Rock Band and was astounded at the blast beats and general speed of the song, and was not remotely interested in metal (playing on expert the first time proved to be quite a challenge ).

I'll add Diabolical Age by Ragnarok to the list. The production and the guitar tone had me at the first seconds, also the minimal, yet well utilized synths, Thyme's vocals fit perfectly with the atmosphere. Also add the kickass album artwork and get an album yet unmatched by anything, at least on my list.

I'll add Diabolical Age by Ragnarok to the list. The production and the guitar tone had me at the first seconds, also the minimal, yet well utilized synths, Thyme's vocals fit perfectly with the atmosphere. Also add the kickass album artwork and get an album yet unmatched by anything, at least on my list.

Gotham City - The Unknown (Album)I used to just listen to the song "Swords and Chains" many times before finally getting tired of it, so one day I decided to finally give the whole album a spin. I don't know, but this one just clicked with me as soon as I got to "The Beast Will Burn". That song, along with a few more right after that one are the strongest tracks on this sweet gem. Something about Anders Zackrisson's vocals jumped out at me, and I was hooked throughout. I only listened to this album ONCE, and it's already pretty damn impressive to say the least. No wonder cool people like Strappado worship these guys. I wish this LP would get a proper reissue so I don't have to shell out hundreds for a (likely worn) copy.

Jaguar - Axe Crazy (7" Single)"You're driving me... AXE CRAZY!" What else can I say, really? As soon as the single starts spinning you are in for a speed metal treat. Nonstop double bass drumming coming at you, with some of the best melodic guitar leads ever heard in the history of the NWOBHM. I LOVE the vocals; they have that youthful, punky energy to them that really complements this beauty of a gem. The reverse side, "War Machine", is a mix of ballad and rocker. When you hear those soft and clean riffs, it's like the complete opposite of the first track (which was purely rocking the fuck out with what little time you were given to sway the crowd). However, as the song progresses, the distortion kicks in and the speed is halfway back up (enough to make you mosh if you are a diehard fan of the NWOBHM or early thrash metal in general). Again, I must repeat that the vocals of Paul Merrell are WONDERFUL here. I'd like to own the real thing, but it's good enough as bonus tracks for Power Games.

Liege Lord - Burn to My Touch (Album)While only half an hour long, Burn to My Touch is one of the most solid USPM gems I've ever heard. I am familiar with other albums like Master Control, but this one takes the cake for me. The riffs are especially orgasmic, as is the tight-paced drumming. I'm so glad I have the vinyl with me and in mint condition no less. Definitely not letting go of this one.

I was just wondering Y&T is metal or not???... Yeah i checked the site and couldnt see it.. But these guys amazed me at the first time with their nice riffs and tempo... Some resources call them Hair Metal, some call them Heavy Metal/Hard Rock band.. Which one should i take???

Metal Archive doesnt consider them in here, is this just because they are close to Hard rock than Heavy Metal??? These guys also doesnt look like Glam... If there is Ozzy Osbourne in here, why not no Y&T??? I think Ozzy is no more Metal after Black Sabbath..

for sure...i was like 7 or 8 and had only heard my dad's classic rock and maiden/preist/sabbath before this..then an elder cousin played this for me and i knew what i wanted from music right there and then

Mercyful Fate was one of the first bands to really entrance me. I had heard nothing like them at the age of 11 - and I went bonkers over "Insane" off of 9. It was available as an Amazon track or something for a buck, and I would listen to it over and over again. "Black Funeral" would later have a similar effect on me, because of the music as well as the hilarious lyrics, which were absolute blasphemy for me at the time and I loved how defiant and powerful they made me feel. Then I became obsessed with the guitarists and wanted to learn to play just like them.

So yeah, MF for sure.

Bal-Sagoth really freaked me out when I first heard them, too. I instantly wanted to get everything they owned, but found out that was harder said than done in 2008. I grew out of them fast, though.

And who honestly wasn't amazed when they first heard Dragonforce? I remember some cool guy that worked at Sam Goody playing me Valley of the Damned in 2003 and thinking ohhh my fuck. I thought I was on to so whole other next-level shit that I had to let erruyboday know about. This phase was quickly digested, and turned into an enormous disillusionment with the band as a whole. Even Valley of the Damned is boring these days. For me at least. But for a thirteen year old just starting to get into metal for real, listening to Dragonforce was the metal equivalent to having some obnoxiously large-breasted blonde bombshell asking if you'd like a good once over. Thus: a memorable first time, but lack of substance later leading to disappointment and subsequent utter abandonment being the ultimate deciding factor.

First time I heard Artillery was a very memorable experience. I heard Khomaniac and lost my mind - everything about it was perfect. The opening riff was all it took for me to know the song was going to rip. The riffs are fucking excellent and there are all of these little nuances within the song that add perfect icing to an already perfect cake. I still love the entire By Inheritance album.

Metallica - s/t - intro to nonpop. I was in 8th grade. Loved it and got the earlier ones form my uncle, whch brought me to...Death - Fate (best of) - My intro to heavier metal. Blown away by Zombie Ritual. One of my favorites since.Massacre - Inhuman condition - so awesome.Morbid Angel - Immortal Rites/Rapture/Covenant - saw the vids in Headbanger's Ball, got the Covenant cassette... wow.Suffocation - Breeding the Spawn - fuck the production issues, the music in this is brilliant.Mercyful Fate - Egypt/Time - Saw the Egypt vid and loved it, then forgot them for a while until I got Time and was again amazed. Needless to say, the back catalog, along with the King Diamond stuff, was soon acquired...Samael - Ceremony of Opposites -Holy shit was this good.Obtained Enslavement - Witchcraft - I was honestly amazed at the 3 mp3s from this album I happened to get from the old Napster way back when. Got the cd and it became one of my symphonic BM favorites. Didn't really like their other ones though.Mithras - heard couple of songs online around the time of their second album - loved the mega-morbid angel sound.Ahab/Pantheist/Wraith of the Ropes/Shape of Despair - discovered Funeral Doom around 2005/6, the albums at that time by these bands thoroughly amazed me. I still hold WotR "Ada" as an all-time FD favorite.Necrophagist - can't remember if I first heard stuff from the 1st or second one, but I know I was amazed by that second one when I got it.Blind Guardian - Nightfall. Dude.Arcturus - La masquerade. Wow.

I was also very impressed by the first Arsis, Dragonforce "Inhuman Rampage", Immolation's first, Moonspell's Wolfheart, Cradle of filth's first, Type O Negative's October Rust, and Madder Mortem's Deadlands.

Qantice - The Cosmocinesy. I heard one track off this album on YouTube, and I was totally blown away, so I listened to another. Similarly blown away. When I got a hold of the album, the wide array of influences crammed into a tight power metal package made a huge fan out of me. I've heard that damn album over 100 times and it never gets old. They're the first band I've been a fan of where I'm actually very afraid that their next album won't live up to the first, and the magic will be ruined.

A friend of mine introduced me to Skyfire through the song "Dead Man's Race". I'm a sucker for melodic death metal performed properly, and he must have known my weak points, because that song just totally dominated our hang-out sessions for a week before I caved and bought their albums.

A few have. I really took a liking for the folk metal band, Eluveitie recently. I guess one of the bands that really got me into metal is Machine Head. Was hooked from the first listen. Saw them live recently and they kicked a lot of ass

Immolation-Passion Kill.The part where the lyrics go from god helping you to god hating you really resonated with me.Anaal Nathrakh-In the constellation of the balck widow.First song i ever heard by them and i wass hooked on the first listen.Suffocation-Entrails of you.Cannibal Corpse-Dead human collection-First DM song i heard.

They were from New York and I was in New York at the time and Frank Gilchriest of Virgin Steele was a friend of the band so we went to see them and I was blown away by the precision and attention to detail.

Closer inspection of their albums made me more weary of them but I still think they are a decent band.

Belphegor definitely blew me the fuck away. I saw the music video for Belphegor-Hell's Ambassador and at the time was still pretty new to the more brutal types of metal, so it was quite a slap in the face. I still watch the video all the time these days, I've always liked it.

Sonic Syndicate - album Eden FireInsomnium - songs Drawn to Black and Mortal ShareDying Fetus - album Reign SupremeSolution .45 - album For Aeons PastAmon Amarth - album Twilight of the Thunder God and Embrace of the Endless OceanScar Symmetry - album and song Holographic Universe

And that's all I can think of now, but I'm sure more will come to me later.